While the appointment of James Gunn and Peter Safran has brought a lot of attention to the DCEU, Warner Bros. Discovery obviously have some other branches of the DC franchise that are very much still alive and kicking. As well as the upcoming sequel to Joker, there is also a whole universe being built around Matt Reeves’ The Batman, which made quite an impact on cinemas earlier this year and has a number of spin-offs in development. One of those will be based around the infamous Arkham Asylum, which has moved forward with a new head writer according to Variety.

The Batman introduced a darker, less fantastic iteration of the Dark Knight, played by Robert Patterson as a younger and less technically advanced version of the superhero. Taking its cue from Batman’s original detective status, the film was a gritty noir thriller that took many fans by surprise, especially those who have been used to seeing Batman as part of the Justice League or swooping around the skies of Tim Burton’s dark fantasy version of Gotham City. However, the film pulled in a lot of critical praise, as well as over $700 million at the box office, and that means as well as a sequel the movie is getting a number of spin-offs.

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After being initially directed towards the Gotham PD as its focus, one of those spin-offs is now centering on the iconic Gotham location of Arkham Asylum. The Batman 2 is guaranteed to move forward, with a release date of 2025 expected, and a spin-off series based on Colin Farrell’s Penguin is about to start filming early next year, but until now the Arkham Asylum series for HBO Max has been on much sketchier ground. Now Antonio Campos has been added to the project as head writer, meaning that the show could end up bridging a gap ahead of the second movie’s release.

Will Arhkam Asylum Feature Classic Batman Villains?

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When it comes to the future of The Batman’s universe, there is not a lot of information known about plot, characters or where the whole story could be heading. Matt Reeves certainly has a vision for his iteration of the DC hero and the world he inhabits. Arkham Asylum has been a constant location in Batman lore, with many of the city’s most violent and mentally unstable criminals residing there. So are we likely to see many new versions of classic Batman villains walking the halls of the institution?

Currently, there is no word on who could appear in the Arkham Asylum series, although Reeves has hinted that it could be a very dark show having described it as a “horror movie or a haunted house that is Arkham.” While the Joker, Riddler, Penguin and Catwoman have already appeared in The Batman, there are many more deadly adversaries of Gotham’s protector that could come into play via the series. As the first Batman project to give full focus on Arkham Asylum, the series could be another unique entry in Warner Bros. Discovery’s DC world.